[Loudon, Tenn.] Del Conca USA (DCUSA), the North American subsidiary of Del Conca, an Italian producer of tile, officially opened the doors of its new U.S. facility here at a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month.

Paulo Mularoni, president of DCUSE told FCW when the company announched the new facility earlier this year, “We see the use of tile is growing in the U.S., it has almost reached the percentage of carpet and wood, that’s why we want to be here and really expand our position, because we know that now the market is aware of tile being durable, beautiful and available. Being in Italy, we couldn’t reach everyone that we would like. Now we can reach a wider number of distributors throughout the country.”

The new Del Conca USA complex is located just south of Knoxville, and includes a 323,000 square foot complex with production facilities, research labs, showrooms and administrative offices. Of the initial investment of more than $50 million, $30 million was invested in world-class Italian tile production technology, according to the company.

Del Conca’s Mularoni told FCW earlier this year that more than 100 workers from the region were hired to fill managerial, technical, engineering, administrative, manufacturing and sales positions.

The global revenue of the Del Conca Group (which includes three faciities in Italy — one located in Faetano, San Marino, one in Riccione and one in Sassulo) is $165 million USD, out of which one-third already comes from the U.S. where sales increased by 12 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year.